RWBEY (Ruby,Weiss,Blake,Epsilon,Yang)
by WanderingWritter44
Summary: Epsilon finding himself amongst a new ragtag team must uncover the secrets behind the grimm and the sinister plot that threatens to end all life on remnant but can they do it after all they're just kids.
1. Chapter 1: New Beginnings

"Hey guys… if you're hearing this, then it means you did it. You won. You kicked the shit out of Hargrove's forces. I knew you could. But this is my last stop. See, when I came into this world, I was really just a collection of somebody else's memories." Church paused, looking at his frozen friends, his mind processing information so fast that it seemed time itself had stopped.

He was recording a message for his friends, his final goodbye. They were surrounded and had but one way out. Tucker had to use the Meta's armor with all the stolen armor equipment from Project Freelancer. It would make Tucker unstoppable, but it needed more than one AI to operate it. Epsilon had to deconstruct himself so that the memory fragments of the other AIs would be able to run the armor systems.

"But with your help, these memories … they took form!" He continued, the memories of their time together flooding him. Each memory slowly fading as he began to break apart. If he could cry he would have drowned in his own helmet. "They became my voice, my personality. And, after a while, I… I became whole." The words came out barely comprehensible as Epsilon struggled to keep himself from breaking down.

"I can't run this suit as Epsilon, but if I erase my memories, if I…. deconstruct myself, I'll have the strength to get you through this. I believe that." His voice broke as he looked into the abyss, thinking about what he had to do. "All these things are what make me who I am… but they're also holding me back," he continued as he glanced at the armor of the Meta, and then to each of his friends, taking time to get one final look at each of them.

"I wish there was another way. But I'm leaving this message, as well as others, in the hopes that you'll understand why I have to go this time….. huh, it was actually Doyle who made me realize something that I've never thought of before. There are so many stories where some brave hero decides to give their life to save the day, and because of their sacrifice, the good guys win, the survivors cheer, and everybody lives happily ever after." Epsilon struggled to get the words out as he looked at Tucker. He may have never have said it, but he was his best-friend. He was there from the start and leaving him was going to be the hardest of all.

He smirked thinking "My only regret was not being able to show how much you mattered, how much all of you guys mattered to me. Now you'll never know."

"But the hero… never gets to see that ending, they'll never know if their sacrifice actually made a difference." He began flickering between the different AI forms as the deconstruction process had finally finished.

"Ain't that a bitch." And with that everything went black.

~O~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~O~

Meanwhile on the transport to Beacon Academy, a young blonde boy about 17 years of age was watching two girls look over the window, reminiscing about the time they had spent in Signal Academy. Suddenly, the boy felt a wave of nausea wash over him and he began to feel sick.

He recoiled in response, and bent over gagging and covering his mouth. He had motion sickness, but it had never gotten this bad. He was about to vomit when he heard a voice coming from his scroll.

"Dear God, don't vomit here," said a snarky voice coming from his scroll, much to the ill feeling teen's dismay. The boy was confused. Who was the guy on his scroll, and how was the call accepted he didn't answer his scroll?

"Whoa there cowboy, slow down. You don't want to vomit in front of the blondie and brunette," the voice said. It was loud enough that only the boy could hear as to not draw any unwanted attention. Pointing out the two girls from before who seemed like they were fighting now, they really stood out amongst the average looking people with how much they contrasted each other.

The two of them were both fair skinned beauties. The shorter one was a short haired brunette whose hair turned dark red at the tips. She had piercing silver eyes filled with a sense of youthful wonder. The taller one on the other hand, had long, flowing, golden hair and a set of vibrant and intense purple eyes that filled with excitement.

"Name's Church by the way, and I don't know how I got here. Believe me, if I could I'd leave cause I don't want to be in the phone of one horny teenager," the voice said to the boy condescendingly. The boy looked down and ran to the side, vomit spilling from his mouth.

The brunette looked disgusted. "Vomit boy," she said, just as some of the bile spilled on the blonde's boots.

It took a few moments before the two noticed the sickly brown sludge, but when they did they screamed, much to the boy's embarrassment. As the ship landed, the boy sprinted out. Seeing a garbage bin, he vomited into it.

Church laughed as the boy repainted the inside of the waste bin with his vomit. As the boy finished he said with disgust: "Name's Jaune Arch. And fuck you."

"It's not like I want to be stuck with a horny teenager. You know I had to delete 50 gigs of porn just to fit? Seriously man, what's with all the chicks with horns? If that's your thing I'm not one to judge," Church said, remembering the time he had to do clear Tucker's storage unit to fit. He was puzzled. How could any of his memories still remain when he had deleted them when he broke himself down?

The memory of his friend was like a knife to his digital heart. He didn't know if his sacrifice meant anything, or if Carolina and Washington got there in time. There were so many questions he wanted to answer. The image of the blonde haired boy with his head in the trashcan brought Church back to the situation he was faced with. He couldn't be distracted at a time like this.

"And get your head out of the trashcan, you're already a loser. No need to show everyone on the first day," Church continued condescendingly. Jaune shot him a murderous glance, but it quickly turned into one of shame and despair.

"The garbage is where I belong. I'm not even supposed to be at this Academy," Jaune said, head low in the garbage, his voice filled with self-loathing and pity. Church felt pity for this kid so he decided to give him some encouragement, making Delta flip with joy, much to Church's annoyance.

"Why do you think you belong in the garbage? You're heading to this school right? It seems important so that means you must've done something right. And what do you mean you're not supposed to be here?" he asked, trying to cheer up the boy even just a little bit.

"I come from a long line of great warriors and leaders. And I have seven sisters, so I have to carry that mantel, but I'm terrible at anything related to fighting." Jaune's memories flooded his mind, memories of how he failed at anything masculine he tried, and how none of his family members got mad. They just smiled and tried to help him. But under those understanding eyes he knew that they never expected much in the first place, so they couldn't be disappointed, which made Jaune's heart pang with pain.

"I got tired of my own failures and the way they always smiled, so when my dad gave me the chance to go to Beacon to prove myself, I took the chance. But when I told my mom and sisters they told me that they'd welcome me back when I flunked out. Not if but when. They don't expect me to make it past the first month. All my life I was just the failure, but now I can actually prove to people I'm more than just a failure." Jaune's tone was one with grim determination as he told Church the story of how he got into Beacon.

"I would suggest you comfort this boy. That is the most logical course of action. This boy's sad life ,coupled with his extreme lack of self-confidence would likely lead to a 40%-60% in combat effectiveness. Being trapped in an unknown location with no allies is a disconcerting predicament. Having at least one person to help us may increase our chances of surviving significantly," Delta said to Church, urging him to comfort the boy.

"What do you think I've been doing Delta?" Church asked, irritated at how Delta disregarded his efforts.

"Then I suggest you try harder," Delta replied, his voice the usual monotone sound that annoyed Church. But Church picked up a hint of genuine concern for the boy.

"He's had it rough. Maybe we could be his friends?" Theta affirmed his thought on the matter, while riding his miniature skateboard, performing intricate and daring moves in the air.

"You know he's kinda like Tucker," Theta continued, as he finally landed next to Church on the scroll's digital screen.

Church was all too familiar with how Jaune felt. For years the Blood Gulch crew was constantly belittled by every foe they faced. Sure it worked to their advantage, but no matter how good of a tactical advantage it gave them, the taunts and jeers that their enemies made always left Church with an anger that burned at his very core.

"Listen here kid, just 'cause no one expects anything from you, doesn't mean you're a shitty person. It's just that you need to do a little better at not fucking things up. For years my friends and I were always looked down upon by all those who fought us. They never respected us, or treated us like real soldiers. We were nothing but jokes in colored armor, but those jokes kicked their asses. But it didn't happen overnight. We had to earn our bad-assery. Now's the time to earn yours," Church said, his tone a mix of condescension, nostalgia, and a small dash of hope. He wished Jaune would take what he had said to heart.

Jaune felt like Church was being sincere for the first time since they'd met. He could tell he really wanted to lift his spirits, no matter how jerky he had sounded. He smiled at his scroll, lifting his head slightly out of the bin.

"Look, way back when, my friends and I had to attack a top secret military base. They had better equipment, better training, and more men but we broke in there and fucked their shit up," Church said jovially, as he recalled the time they broke into the director's secret lab and fought the Tex clones.

Church felt weird. He normally wasn't as open about his experiences or his feelings, but something told him that maybe he needed to do this with Jaune. Give him a confidence boost, you know?

Jaune smiled a goofy grin and Church was annoyed. "Hey nub nuts, your head's still in a trashcan, and it smells like ass."

"We were having a moment. Did you really have to ruin it? " Jaune asked, slowly rising from the garbage bin.

"It's part of my charm you know? Come on, wouldn't want to be late for your first day, especially since you're not really supposed to be here," Church said nonchalantly as Jaune left the transport, people snickering as he stumbled around.

He looked around at the expansive campus of Beacon, its white, main walkway flanked by flags and surrounded by a huge garden. All leading to a central area with tall pillars and a statue at the center of Huntsmen and woman brandishing weapons over a group of Grimm. There were red trees and benches around the statue, making it an excellent area for hanging out.

Beyond the central leisure area were the main buildings. These were large and expansive buildings where the students would live for the next 4 years, while they honed the necessary skills they would need to perform their duties as huntsmen and huntresses. But most impressive of all was the imposing tower which pierced into the heavens like a lance, and even in the light of day it glowed green at the top, giving the school its name.

Jaune left the ship wobbling and Church took the time to read up on the world. He familiarized himself with the 4 kingdoms and their premier combat schools and the Grimm they fought. He then hacked the local Beacon Registry and found out about a few more first year students, the same year level as Jaune.

One in particular stood out. Ruby Rose age 15. She still had two more years before she would be normally accepted into Beacon, but for some odd reason, she was enrolled into the school two years ahead of her batch at Signal. But the thing that stood out the most was that her enrollment had been handled and processed by Professor Ozpin the headmaster of Beacon.

"It is not wise to pry into other people's personal business," Delta protested, as Church was reading the young girl's file. Church grumbled to himself as he closed the tabs he had used to hack into the system, but not before he saved the transcripts of 7 other first year students.

Just as Church closed the tabs, a pair of girls began to argue over what looked like fallen luggage. Jaune was approaching the girls to step in, when suddenly one of the girls sneezed and then exploded, knocking the other girl onto the ground and while luggage was sent flying everywhere. Jaune fell back in surprise. Just as he began to get up, another girl came to help and after a brief exchange the two girls left, leaving the one that exploded alone.

Jaune went over to her, and as he got closer, he saw it was the short brunette from the ship. Church quickly pulled up the files he had saved and he went through them all, stopping at the file of Ruby Rose. The girl matched the image on the file.

"That girl's named Ruby. She's 15 and she's also a freshman," Church said, just Jaune began to approach her. Jaune was skeptical at how Church knew who the girl was, and on the off chance he was right he didn't want to scare her by knowing stuff about her on their first encounter. He decided to play it safe so he'd act like he didn't know anything for now.

Jaune quickly ran to "Ruby's" side, offering his had to help her up. With a gleeful grin she grabbed his hand and got to her feet. She wiped the soot of her face as a pair of boxy work droids floated over to collect the luggage.

"Are you okay? Well of course you aren't, most people don't on the first day of calls. Well people don't explode in general," Jaune said as they started to walk down the long walk way of Beacon Academy.

She laughed at Jaune's comment which caused him to blush a bright red.

"Well at least I didn't vomit on the airship here vomit boy. Name's Ruby Rose by the way. And you are?" she asked, happy to finally find someone she could talk to. Jaune gave her an annoyed look while feigning laughter.

"Haha, very funny you don't hear me calling you crater face. Name's Jaune Arc. And by the way, motion sickness is a bigger problem that many people suffer from," he said. His tone was light-hearted and casual as they walked together; Jaune following Ruby's general direction and Ruby doing the same.

Jaune and Ruby walked in silence for what seemed like forever. Each time Jaune tried to speak he just ended up looking at the ground or fidgeting with his hands much like Ruby whose eyes darted around the campus trying to look for things to start a conversation.

"So the weapon on your back? It looks pretty cool," Jaune said finally mustering the courage to start a conversation with Ruby. She gave a sigh of relief before she began talking.

"Oh this? It's Crescent Rose," Ruby said excitedly as she pulled out the weapon. It was a large scythe, much longer the Ruby was tall, colored red with a black trim much like the clothes Ruby wore.

"It's a weapon I designed myself with the help of my Uncle Qrow. It's an HCSS; he suggested I go for a higher-caliber semiautomatic variant but that would add too much weight and recoil for my fighting style, so I went for a clip fed, bolt-action one giving me a light-weight, yet powerful weapon. The blade is a special duranium alloy making it ultra-lightweight and pretty strong." The speed at which Ruby spoke left Jaune in the dust, barely able to hear every other word and he understood about half of it. However, he could tell she was very passionate about the weapon she had forged herself.

"Right HCSS duranium light power rifle. That sounds pretty complicated for a scythe," Jaune said, trying to sound enthusiastic. But it was hard when he didn't know a lot about the subject.

"In simple terms it's a sniper scythe and I would never trade it for any weapon on the world. So what's your weapon? Did you make it yourself? What are the specs? What's the chambering? Bullet type? Is it melee weapon as well?" Ruby inquired eagerly, as she retracted her scythe and placed it behind her.

"Oh. It's a sword passed down from my family. It's pretty old and I'm not really all that good with weapons and stuff so I don't know much more than that," Jaune replied, looking down knowing that he probably disappointed Ruby. But as he looked up she still had the same look of interest she had when she talked about her own weapon.

"Wait I also have this." Jaune pulled out his sheathe and he pressed a button on it. The sheath expanded in an instant into a kite shield which Ruby began to examine in full detail.

"Hmm, judging by its older design it's probably from the war. That being so, it's sheath to shield transformation makes it the same weight in both shield and sheathe form. We could drop some of the weight if we changed the material and we could work in a firearm as well. I'd suggest something medium to long range as an initiator, but it may lead to other problems with weight distribution and with all the moving parts, jamming is more likely…" Ruby just kept talking, her voice filled with a fiery and infectious passion. It was hard for Jaune to stop the small grin that crept onto his face.

She reminded him of his younger sister Ilana; they both had a fire burning within them. A desire to share what they knew, to everyone they could. The memories of his sibling caused a tear to trail down his face but Jaune quickly wiped it away without Ruby noticing.

"Oh sorry for rambling. I left all my friends in my old school and everyone's so much older and cooler I just don't know how to talk to new people. Sorry I'm rambling again." Ruby said her face red with the embarrassment that she felt while Jaune looked at her with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

"It's fine. One of my sisters used to talk like that all the time, and it's nice to actually know someone. The whole ride here was really nerve-wracking since I didn't know anyone on board. So I kinda know how you feel." Jaune gave Ruby a sincere smile as he replied, which Ruby returned.

"Quick question. Where are the two of you going?" Church interjected much to Ruby's surprise causing the girl to jump back in surprise. Seeing the girl react caused Church to chuckle much to the annoyance of Jaune.

* * *

AN: I'd just like tot thank all my fans for their loyal support and patience with me, I'd like to give a special shout out to Proxy 1980 for helping me write this chapter and Vixenlovesninjago for offering to beta for me. The next chapter will be out as soon as I can get it out. Please review this chapter with constructive criticism I want to make this story as good as possible and you saying it sucks will not help if you don not tell me why. Thanks again for taking an interest in my work till next time Wanderer out.


	2. Chapter 2 : Explosive Friends

The two talked as they wandered on aimlessly around the courtyard. It took them awhile to figure out that they were lost but only after Ruby said.  
"Do you have any idea where we're headed?" Which caused Jaune to give her a questioning look as he replied to her saying.  
"I was following you I thought you knew where we were supposed to be going." Much to Ruby's bemusement, his response caused her to laugh as Jaune stood there blushing in embarrassment.  
Out of nowhere a disembodied voice spoke causing ruby to jump back in surprise.  
"Um, ever heard of a map? It's a pretty useful invention that helps you get to where you need to go. It's pretty handy maybe you two should try using one sometime." said the voice in a snarky and arrogant tone causing Jaune to sigh.  
"Who's there?!" Ruby screamed in fear as she attempted to draw her scythe to face her invisible foe. Jaune simply pulled out his scroll and began talking to whoever was on the other side.  
"Wow Church thanks for ruining the mood. And how are you talking even though I didn't accept any calls?" Jaune said with clear irritancy in his voice causing Ruby to giggle as she put away Crescent Rose.  
"I'm in your phone you dipshit, AI's can do all sort of things with computers like hacking and complex computations. Speaking through a loudspeaker isn't that hard." Church said in his usual berating tone only for Delta to speak up.  
"Based on the differences of the surrounding architecture and that found of within the UNSC database I have concluded that we may be in a region of space that does not conform to the technological standards of the UNSC. They may not have the concept of what artificial intelligences are and may not know about our current situation." Delta said too fast for the humans to comprehend but not for the AI who his words were meant for.  
"I suggest a level of caution however with Jaune Arc, he appears to be more than a teen with high amounts of social anxiety and an astounding lack of self-esteem." Delta said his words intriguing Church but just as he was about to ask Delta vanished forcing Church to postpone the conversation for a later time.  
"Right AI, that's a thing people are. Awesome, seeing as Ruby doesn't know what an AI is well mind explaining to her." Jaune said in a thinly veiled attempt to look cool causing Ruby to explode into more laughter.  
"Well AI stands for Artificial Intelligence. They are programs, highly advanced ones. They're made for calculating complicated mathematical solutions. Some are advanced enough to have their own thoughts, personalities, and emotions," Church drawled, explaining to Ruby and Jaune.  
"So you're an AI?" Jaune asked, trying to follow Church's train of thought.  
"Well not exactly. I'm a fragment. You see, a full AI, capable of full thought and a personality, can only be made by copying the brain of a human. A fragment happens when an AI suffers immense amounts of psychological trauma forcing it to compartmentalize its emotions and fragment them in order to keep functioning." Church's tone no longer held the obnoxious arrogance it once held. Jaune and Ruby gave him sympathetic looks as he spoke. They could only imagine what he had to go through just to be born.  
"Don't feel sorry for me. It's not gonna change what happened. I'm here now and I'm gonna help you little fucks." The sarcastic tone in Church's voice returned causing Jaune to chuckle disappointedly and Ruby to cringe. She wasn't used to the language her new friend was using, and could only think of one other person who would swear so causally.  
"So how can you help us exactly? I mean besides math homework," Jaune asked his new companion wanting to know what exactly he could do. Church scoffed in false hurt.  
"I'm hurt. Math homework? I'm a highly advanced, trillion dollar, AI fragment and you'd have me do math homework." Church's mocking tone lightened the sullen mood.  
"But being stuck in your scroll limits both my ability to collect data and store it so the best I can do is calculations and doing really really fast web searches. I've got to upgrade the hardware I'm in for the fun stuff." Church continued in a more serious tone, but Ruby could pick a slight hint of irritation from his voice, probably from the lack of usefulness his current state had left him in.  
"Well maybe you could be our friend?" Ruby joked happily to Church, cheering up the AI. Church laughed heartily, reminded of the trusting and naïve Caboose.  
Church flickered purple, letting Theta's memory speak for a while. "Well, I'd like that very much Ruby. Can I move to your scroll? Jaune's is filled with some weird-"  
Jaune cut the call, not wanting the AI to ruin the image Ruby had off him.  
Ruby laughed, then said while bringing up her scroll, "Sure Church. Can you guide us to the Ceremony Hall? We're kinda late."  
Church jumped to Ruby's scroll. The process was jarring. The memories of the other AI fragments all felt a strong feeling of confusion and nausea. After a few moments, Church got accustomed to the digital realm that was this 15 year-old girl's scroll.  
The data storage unit was filled to the brim with songs from many punk rock bands, which seemed to be the music genre that Ruby preferred. It also had a staggering amount of pictures of her and her dog which was a black-headed, tri-colored, Cardigan Welsh Corgi. There were also pictures of her and three other people, an older man with black hair and red eyes in a grey jacket matching his pants and a cross shaped necklace, the same blonde haired girl she was talking to on the airship, and finally a purple-eyed, blonde haired man in brown cargo shorts and a brown leather vest.  
They were all in front of a cabin by a path which lead off to a cliff. They all seemed happy, but Church could sense an unseen tension in the picture. It was like an unseen animosity between the two men. He'd have to ask about those two later, but for now, back to work.  
It took a whole second, an eternity for an AI like Church, to take his new surroundings and pull up the map of Beacon Academy.  
"Ok just follow this map. Just shout when you need me," Church said, deciding that he had enough drama for today.  
Ruby and Jaune began following the path when Ruby said: "We have weird friends."  
Jaune smiled. "Yah, one of mine blew up on the first day of school, another was literally in my phone," he said jokingly, to which Ruby laughed.  
"Mom always said strangers were just friends you haven't met yet. I don't think that includes exploding girls and tiny people in scrolls," Jaune continued while rubbing his nape. He felt saddened at the mention of his mother. She always supported him and took care of him when he failed. How could she not? He was her baby boy after all, her only boy.

* * *

But, she was so torn when she heard that he got into Beacon. She still supported him though. Her big purple eyes starred at him with sorrow, it was as if she was about to breakdown and cry.  
"You are your father's son," she said her voice weak and pained, at the doorway of Jaune's room as he ecstatically packed his bags getting ready for the move to Beacon.  
"I know you're gonna do great honey," she said as Jaune rose, the duffel bag of his belongings on his shoulder. He was excited to leave, it was finally his chance to prove to the world he was more than the funny idiot, or the useless son of the great warrior.  
"But, don't worry I'll keep your bed and room ready for you. Remember you always have a place here. You don't have to be like your father, or anyone. You just have to be yourself." She said this as she held him tightly. For all she knew this would be the last time she would get to hold her only son.

Jaune froze as she said this, he knew his mother loved him dearly. She was simply looking out for him, but she also expected him to fail. His father would never say this, but he knew just by the gazes he gave him that this was how he felt.  
Jaune pushed past his mother with a fiery determination to prove them both wrong.

* * *

They stood in the middle of a deserted walkway for what seemed like ages, Ruby punched Jaune's arm playfully which jogged Jaune from the trance like hold that had frozen him in place.

"Are you ok ? We have to go we're late" Ruby said this as Jaune stared at her with tears in his eyes. He wiped them away then nodded as Ruby began walking away.

"What's wrong? After you brought up your mom you just stood there and began crying. Since you listened to me ramble aimlessly you can tell me anything." Ruby said smiling with a big goofy grin which Jaune returned weakly.

A/N: It's been awhile since I last had anything online. I have some news my last beta had some personal issues so he had to stop. Now I have 2 betas so I'm confident that I'll get some updates sooner than I normally would have even with my workload.


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